South Africa has discovered the new Covid variant, the implications of which are not yet clear

South Africa has discovered the new Covid variant, the implications of which are not yet clear.

South African researchers have discovered a small number of another Covid-19 variant and are trying to understand its expected changes, they said Thursday.

This variant - known as B.1.1.529 - has a "very unusual constellation" of mutations because they help the body's immune response to be avoided and become more contagious, scientists told reporters at a news conference.

Early signs from diagnostic laboratories indicate that this variant is rapidly increasing in the more populous province of Gauteng and may already be present in the other eight provinces of the country.

South Africa has confirmed about 100 samples as B.1.1.529, but this variation has also been found in Botswana and Hong Kong, the Hong Kong case of a traveler from South Africa. Scientists believe that 90% of new cases in Gauteng may be B.1.1.529.

"Despite the lack of data, our experts are working overtime with all established monitoring systems to understand the new variation and what the potential implications will be," the National Institute for Communicable Diseases  of South Africa said in a statement.

South Africa on Friday urgently called on the World Health Organization (WHO) task force to discuss the virus.

Health Minister Joe Phaahla said it would be too soon to say whether the government would impose stricter restrictions in response to the variance.

South Africa was the first country to detect beta variation last year.

The beta is one of four that the WHO has named "worrying" because there is evidence that it is highly contagious and that vaccines are less effective against it.

The country detected another variant called C.1.2 earlier this year, but it did not replace the more common delta variant and contained only a small percentage of the genes sorted in recent months.

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